


i can't help but love you, even though I try not to

by CanaryWarrior



Category: Stargirl (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Villain Rick Tyler, and Beth and Rick are best friends, are we really surprised, basically hourman was a villain and then he died and rick followed in his footsteps, yet another villain rick fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27632063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanaryWarrior/pseuds/CanaryWarrior
Summary: Beth Chapel was a lot of things- a 4.0 high school student, a teenage superhero, and best friend to Rick Harris.Rick Harris/Tyler was a lot of things too- town delinquent, a teenage supervillain, and best friend to Beth Chapel.Neither knows the truth about the other, but that doesn't stop them from developing feelings for one another. Will their budding friendship and possible relationship survive, or were they doomed from the start?
Relationships: Beth Chapel & Yolanda Montez & Courtney Whitmore, Beth Chapel/Joey Zarick, Beth Chapel/Rick Tyler
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it is yet another Villain Rick fic! I had this laying around in my documents for months, and figured I might as well post some of it. I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Title from Ruelle's 'War of Hearts.'

Beth knocked out the final hooded goon with the metal pole she found on the floor. She entered the code for the locked room, provided to her by Chuck, and gently kicked the goon to the side so she could enter the room.

“Stargirl, Wildcat, I’m in. This room was guarded, there must be some very vital information on this computer,” Beth reported, spotting a monitor and a keyboard on the furthest right corner of the room.

“Are you okay?” Courtney’s concerned voice said over the comms.

“Yeah, I’m all good,” Beth reassured her friend, grateful that her friends taught her how to fight. She was definitely improving. 

“Good. Just hurry up. I just saw Hourman running down the halls. I couldn’t stop him,” Yolanda warned.

“I’ll try to be fast.” Guided by Chuck and her own hacking knowledge, Beth broke into the encrypted computer. She inserted a flash drive on the side and began transferring the files to the drive. “Come on, come on,” she whispered, despite knowing her urgency won’t cause the files to copy any faster.

Beth tried to will the computer to go faster before Hourman appeared. She still wondered how this new Hourman chose the villainous path when his predecessor was a hero. She would never admit it out loud, but there was something about the villain that made Beth feel weak in her knees. Hourman never actually tried to seriously hurt her, and she was intrigued about why.

The computer read ‘75%’ when Beth heard a familiar voice.

“There’s some top secret info on that, darling,” Hourman noted, entering the room. Beth mentally swore and turned around, making sure to keep the flash drive hidden.

“Like what?” Beth countered, keeping her voice even.

“Well, if I tell you, then it wouldn’t be a secret,” Hourman responded, almost teasingly. Almost. “Unfortunately, I can’t let you escape with that, Dr. Sunshine.”

“It’s _Mid-Nite_ ,” Beth snapped, eliciting a chuckle from the young villain.

“Sunshine suits you more, what with that bright optimism and hope that never seems to waver. Now, I’m asking you politely to step away.”

Beth glanced at the screen. 90% finished. She just needed one more minute. “Since when are villains polite? If I recall correctly, you threw a metal door at me.”

“First of all, I threw it at your kitty-cat friend. You just happened to be there,” Hourman’s eyes glanced down, almost shamefully, for a split second before meeting Beth’s face. “I am sorry if you got hurt, sunshine.”

“Why?” Beth questioned curiously. “The ISA is never sorry. Why should I believe you?”

She looked at the screen. 

‘97%.’

“You don’t have to. I know the truth. Now, move.”

Beth shook her head. “No. You see, I don’t like it when people try to boss me around, especially some _guy.”_ Beth marvelled at the level of confidence she had while in costume- she felt like she could do anything as Dr. Mid-Nite, including sassing superpowered villains.

‘100%.’ Great, now all Beth had to do was remove the drive without Hourman noticing and escape. No pressure.

Hourman smirked at her response. “Oh, I would never intend to boss you around, darling. But I do need you to move.”

Beth took a step back, shifting her body toward the table the computer was on. She moved her hand quickly and pulled out her flash drive. With the drive still in her hand, she pressed the power button, turning off the computer, thus erasing the screen that read ‘Transfer complete.’

“Or else what?” Beth taunted, slipping her drive into her utility belt. Thank god for the dimmed light in the room, otherwise Hourman would’ve seen her. “You’re gonna throw another door at me?”

Hourman’s smirk fell off his face. “You’re really gonna hold that over my head forever, huh, Doc?”

“Dr. Mid-Nite, jump out the window,” Yolanda’s voice urged in Beth’s ears. “I’m outside on the wall near your window. I’ll catch you!”

“What makes you think we’ll know each other for the rest of our lives, Hourman?” Beth responded before sprinting to the window that Yolanda opened from the outside. She swan dived out of it, falling.

“No!” Hourman shouted, running to the window. He saw Wildcat free falling until she grabbed Dr. Mid-Nite mid-fall. The leather clad girl landed on her feet while dropping her teammate to the ground.

Well, that was unexpected, Hourman mused, his heart still pounding. Dr. Mid-Nite was safe, she wasn’t hurt. Good, Hourman would’ve missed the amusing repertoire he had with the young heroine. She kept things interesting.

At least that’s what the teen villain told himself as he ignored the guilt he felt at the reminder of the metal door incident and the fear he felt when the goggle-wearing girl jumped out of the window right in front of him.

He sighed and turned around after seeing Dr. Mid-Nite getting off the ground, clearly uninjured. They’ll meet again, it was inevitable. 

~~~~~

Back at the JSA headquarters, aka Pat’s garage, the three girls changed out of their superhero costumes and into something more comfortable. Pat waited patiently for the girls to get comfortable before starting the debrief. He wanted to keep it short so the girls could get home and rest, since it was almost eleven.

“How did it go? Did you get the info?” Pat inquired.

Beth nodded, holding the flash drive between two of her fingers. “Yup, it’s all here. Got it just in time, too.”

“Yeah, Hourman was there too,” Yolanda recalled, turning her head in Beth’s direction.

“He was.”

“How did you stop him from…” Courtney gestured to the flashdrive in her friend’s hand. 

“With conversation,” Beth shrugged. “He didn’t make a move to attack me. He just kept telling me to move. The transfer was at 75% when he got there, so I only had to wait it out for a minute or two.”

“He didn’t attack you?” Pat questioned incredulously. The older man knew that the new Hourman had no problem showing off his incredible strength, especially in a fight. Why would he hold back against Beth?

“No, he didn’t.”

Yolanda narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why not? He didn’t have a problem throwing that metal door at us during our last mission.”

“I did bring that up while I was hiding the flash drive,” Beth began. “He said that he was aiming for you and…”

“And what?” Courtney prompted, her staff glowing briefly as if it was curious for the answer as well.

“He said he was sorry if I got hurt,” Beth admitted, omitting the part where the villain called her ‘darling’ and ‘sunshine.’ She thought if she mentioned it, everyone would see her blush. Plus, Beth didn’t want to make a big deal out of it- Hourman was probably trying to get under her skin, she reasoned. That’s what villains do. They lie and tease and hurt in order to get what they want. Hourman didn’t mean any of what he said to her.

Right?

“Why would he say that?” Yolanda asked suspiciously.

Courtney’s eyes brightened. “Maybe he has a crush on you?”

“No, he was just trying to throw me off my game,” Beth tried to convince her blonde friend, but she seemed pretty set on her conclusion.

“He didn’t even attack you,” Courtney reminded her. “I think he likes you.”

Yolanda spoke up. “Court, that seems…”

“Listen, it makes sense!” Courtney exclaimed, getting that look in her eye that usually added to Pat’s gray hairs. “Henry is the son of a villain and he liked Yolanda, Jordan is Icicle-”

“We don’t know that for sure, Court,” Pat reminded his stepdaughter while rubbing his forehead. This was not what he expected during the debriefing. 

“ _Anyways_ , Jordan has a thing for my mom, and Cameron likes me!”

“What’s your point, Court?” Yolanda asked, wondering where her best friend was going with this. She glanced at Pat, who had a weird look on his face. Probably from the comment about Jordan having a crush on his wife. Poor guy, he looked like he needed a vacation.

“Villains and people who are related to them have been interested in all of us, including my mom!” Courtney said trimphly. “It was only a matter of time until one fell for Beth!”

“Joey and Issac had crushes on Beth in middle school and freshman year,” Yolanda revealed. When Beth tried to hide her face, Yolanda giggled. 

“Listen, I connected the two dots,” the curly haired girl insisted, motioning a line with her two pointer fingers.  
  


“You didn’t connect shit.”

“I’ve connected them.”

“Anyways,” Beth cut in, changing the subject from villainous crushes, “what’s so important about the info that’s on the flash drive?”

“That computer you broke into belongs to Gambler. He has computers stashed all over, we were lucky that we discovered the location of one.” Pat sighed. “Look, I’ll comb through the info, hopefully there’s something useful that’s relevant to their current plans. You girls deserve some rest.”

Beth got up and handed the flash drive to Pat, who accepted it with a small smile and a nod. 

“Alright, now let’s get you girls back to our place. You’re sure your parents are okay with you sleeping over for the night?” Pat asked for what seemed to be the millionth time.

“Yeah, my parents are okay with it,” Beth answered. Honestly, her parents were just happy that she had friends her own age.

Yolanda shrugged. “Sure.” Her parents didn’t care. They usually disregarded her existence. At least it let her get away with being a teenage superhero. 

“Great!”

~~~~~

The trio changed once again, this time into comfy pajamas, and they settled in Courtney’s bedroom. The three girls were sprawled out on the blonde’s bed, relaxing after an eventful mission.

“So, Beth,” Courtney began, propping her head on her hand. “What exactly is going on between you and Rick Harris?”

Beth tilted her head in confusion. “Nothing? We’re just friends. He’s my best friend…”

Beth and Rick became friends about six months ago. They shared a history class together and were assigned a project that was to be done in pairs. Everyone immediately paired up with their friends, except for Beth and Rick. Beth, who actually had a few friends such as Cameron, Issac, Joey, and Artemis, unfortunately didn’t share her history class with any of them. Their teacher, Ms. Miller, approached Beth and asked her if she wanted to join another group and make it a group of three, an exception she was willing to make so Beth wouldn’t have to work with town delinquent Rick Harris. 

Beth refused. She knew what it felt like to be left out, and she couldn’t even fathom how Rick felt. To have everyone judge you and view you as a no-good delinquent with no future, who couldn’t be trusted with even the simplest of tasks. At least Beth had a few friends, Rick didn’t have any. So, she decided to change that. She had walked up to Rick’s desk, grabbed an empty chair, sat next to him, and talked. 

Rick wasn’t rude to her at all- he didn’t tell her to stop talking when she rambled on and on, and he even did his part of the project well. Beth definitely broke down some of the walls Rick built around himself and they ultimately became friends. Hell, she thought of them as best friends, and wasn’t sure if he felt the same way until he called her when he was drunk one evening and proclaimed that she was his best friend, his only friend.

Now, they were still best friends, but Beth didn’t tell him that she was a superhero. Due to her JSA business, she was unable to hang out with Rick as often as she would like to. Beth would feel more guilty about cancelling her plans with Rick if he hadn’t started cancelling them too. Beth’s original plan for tonight was to hang out with Rick at her place and get some studying done. But Rick cancelled on her, and then her failed plans turned into a JSA mission and a sleepover.

Beth was snapped out of her thoughts when Yolanda spoke.

“Just friends?” Yolanda asked cautiously, clearly still getting used to the normalcy of having friends post-scandal. She was scared of overstepping her boundaries with her two new friends.

Beth nodded. “Yeah, why?”

Yolanda shrugged. “Because I noticed him staring at you softly a few times. Maybe he has a thing for you.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Beth responded sadly, surprising herself. Why did she sound sad at the idea of Rick not having feelings for her? Did she really have a crush on her best friend? No, she couldn’t...right?

“Or do you have a thing for him?” Courtney’s eyes lit up, almost as bright as her powerful staff.

“No, I don’t…” Sure, Beth got excited whenever she made plans with him. And she felt her cheeks heat up whenever he got close to her. Not to mention that time she got cold and he shrugged off his leather jacket to drape over her shoulders. She remembered how her heart raced when he did that.

Oh, crap.

“Oh my god, I think I do,” Beth realized before letting her head drop onto one of Courtney’s pink pillows with a groan.

Courtney laughed. “You have a crush on Rick Harris of all people!”

“I guess it was only a matter of time, especially since you two hang out a lot,” Yolanda tried to comfort Beth. “Besides, I’m sure a lot of people have crushed on their best friends before, it’s not the end of the world.”

Beth looked up at the brunette, her words of wisdom making sense. “Yeah, you’re right, feelings come and go. I’m sure my small crush will go away and my friendship with Rick will remain intact.”

“I haven’t talked about boys like this,” Yolanda gestured to the two other girls on the bed, “in so long. It feels nice.”

Beth and Courtney smiled softly at her. “I haven’t had an actual slumber party in, like, ever. There was this one time I slept over at Artemis’s house, but her parents seemed… extreme,” Beth recalled how she spent hours helping Artemis with geology and it was too late at night for Beth to bike home. The Crocks offered her to stay immediately, which was nice, but Beth had no intention of sleeping over there again.

Courtney winced. “Yeah, her mom seems intense. Pat is friends with her dad. He said he was crazy.”

Yolanda laughed. “So, speaking of boys, what’s going on with you and Cameron?”

Courtney’s cheeks turned pink. “Nothing, something, I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him in a while.”

“Don’t you sit behind him in algebra?” Beth wondered. 

Courtney mumbled something, eliciting chuckles from the other two girls. “Hey, there’s that dance coming up, right? Are you two going?”

Yolanda shook her head sadly. “I doubt my parents will let me go…”

“You could just sneak out, like you do for missions and sleepovers!” Courtney encouraged. “What about you, Beth?”

Beth shrugged. “I don’t know, probably not.”

“Well if none of us have dates, the three of us can go together,” Courtney suggested with a bright grin. “It could be fun!”

“Well, the dance isn’t for a few weeks,” Yolanda pointed out. “But sure,” she relented.

“I’m in,” Beth agreed. A dance with her friends? It wouldn’t be bad at all. She wondered if Rick would be interested in going to a school dance. Of course, she knew he most likely wouldn’t, but a small part of her hoped he would.

“Yay!” Courtney exclaimed, her infectious excitement causing the other two girls to smile. 

Even though she didn’t get to hang out with Rick tonight, it was still a good end to the day. A successful mission plus a fun sleepover? Beth didn’t mind at all.


	2. Chapter 2

Beth opened her locker the next morning so she could get the books she needed for her first couple of classes. Pat drove the girls to school and offered to pick them up so they could discuss what he found on the flash drive. She only hoped there was at least a little bit of valuable intel on the drive, especially since she jumped out of a window to get it away from Hourman.

Hourman, who Beth still couldn’t figure out. He definitely kept her on her toes, she’ll give him that, but why didn’t he try to fight her? He was a big guy, about a foot taller than her, with super strength- he could’ve easily taken her. But why didn’t he? Why did the villain apologize to Beth? She waved it off as him messing with her, but what if he meant it? Beth was snapped out of her thoughts when a familiar voice spoke.

“Hey, Beth,” Rick greeted, clad in his usual leather jacket with a hand clutching his backpack strap. 

Beth smiled when she turned to look at him. “Hi, Rick!”

Rick shifted his feet. “I just wanted to say sorry, again, for cancelling on you so suddenly yesterday, something came up.”

Beth waved it off. “It’s okay. It kinda worked out anyways, Court invited Yolanda and I to sleepover last night after you cancelled.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun,” Rick noted. He felt guilty for leaving Beth on such short notice, but at least she didn’t spend the rest of her day alone. Courtney and Yolanda seemed like nice people at least, Beth deserved to be friends with good people.

“Is everything okay?” Beth asked in concern.

Rick nodded quickly. “Yeah, everything is good,” he lied. It’s not like he could tell his best friend that he was a part of a rather villainous group known as the ISA and he was on a mission last night. Or that he had an encounter with a superheroine who jumped out of the window to get away from him. Dr. Mid-Nite didn’t seem to be scared of heights, like Beth was. She didn’t hesitate in jumping out, which Rick found scary yet impressive.

“Oh, well I’m glad to hear that,” Beth said thoughtfully. “Maybe we can reschedule?”

The corners of Rick’s mouth upturned. “Yeah, I’d like that.” The ISA were meeting later today and Rick had some work to take care of for the Mustang he was trying to fix up. At least it was Friday, he had the whole weekend to spend with Beth. “Maybe Sunday?”

Beth mentally went over her schedule in her head. She was free on Sunday. “Yeah, that works for me!”

A smile formed on Rick’s face. “Great!” Before he could say anything else, the bell rang. 

“I’ll see you later,” Beth said, shooting her best friend one last smile before turning and walking to class. 

Rick watched Beth walk to her class with a soft smile on his face. He tried his best to ignore his racing heartbeat. Damn, he was Rick Tyler/Harris, he didn’t do emotions, and he certainly didn’t do crushes on his best friend. Beth was the only good thing in his life and he wasn’t going to mess it up with a silly crush that will eventually go away on its own… right? He shook his head and trekked to his own class, hearing Beth’s insistent voice in his head encouraging him to improve his schoolwork.

Honestly, though? Rick didn’t mind hearing Beth’s voice in his head at all.

As Beth sat at her desk, she couldn’t help but wonder what Rick had to do last night, but she didn’t dare ask- it wasn’t her business and it’s not like she could reciprocate and tell him that she went on a superhero mission after he cancelled their plans. At least they had plans for the weekend that Beth was looking forward to very much. 

The bell rang again, signalling the beginning of first period. Beth opened her notebook and grabbed her blue pen, ready to start the day.

~~~~~

After school, Pat paced in front of Courtney, Beth, and Yolanda, who were sitting on the couch, with the flash drive in his hand.

“Okay, so there wasn’t much on the drive, most of the info dated back to when the original JSA were around. But, I did find some notes about something called Project New America and what looks like to be some kind of machine in its very early stages of design. I think whatever the ISA is planning, it’s something that’s been in the works for over a decade,” Pat explained, obviously concerned. If the ISA had been patient for all these years for this plan, then it must be a very big one.

“What could they possibly be planning? And what does a machine have to do with it?” Courtney wondered.

“I don’t know,” Pat shrugged helplessly. 

“Was there anything else? Like the identities of other ISA members?” Yolanda inquired, hoping there would be other hints about their enemy.

“Unfortunately, no. We just have to do more digging,” Pat sighed.

“Well, we know Brainwave and Principal Bowin are in the ISA,” Courtney piped up, causing Pat to groan.

“We don’t know for sure that Anaya Bowin is in the ISA, Court,” Pat reminded his stepdaughter. 

“She  _ is _ ,” the blonde insisted. 

“So that’s two members, it’s better than not knowing any at all,” Beth said helpfully.

“And we know that the new Hourman is Rex Tyler’s son,” Yolanda fiddled with one of her braids. “We just don’t know his name…”

Pat’s eyes turned sad at the thought of his late friend. Well, Rex wasn’t their friend, hell he wasn’t part of the JSA- he was part of the ISA who successfully infiltrated the JSA. Then they killed the JSA, who was still reeling from the betrayal. Pat later heard that Rex and his wife died in a car accident, but he didn’t know that he had a son until the new Hourman arrived on the scene. It was obvious from his visible features that he was a teenager, maybe at most a year older than the girls. Rex must’ve told the ISA about his son because that’s where his true allegiance was.

“These things take time. Being a superhero isn’t just fighting, it’s about doing research and simply waiting, no matter how antsy you may get,” Pat informed them. “You know what? It’s Friday, you girls should go enjoy the weekend. We’ll regroup Monday.”

“Okay!” The trio chorused. They grabbed their bags and waved goodbye to Pat as they exited his shop. It was a nice day, so they figured they would all walk home.

“So, any plans this weekend girls?” Courtney asked, moving a blonde curl behind her ear.

“No,” Yolanda said, resigned.

“I’m hanging out with Rick on Sunday, that’s all,” Beth said casually. 

“Does he suspect that you’re in the JSA?” Yolanda asked curiously. Obviously Rick would notice if Beth started to get random injuries or became more tired than the usual high school student. What kind of best friend wouldn’t notice that kind of stuff?

Beth shook her head. “No, he doesn’t.”

“That’s good.” Courtney said, Yolanda nodding in agreement.

Beth only hoped she could keep the JSA secret from Rick for as long as she could.

~~~~~

Sunday had finally arrived and Beth found herself on her couch sitting next to Rick, notebooks and papers scattered on the table in front of them. It was nice, hanging out with Rick like this. It was peaceful and Beth was surprised at how comfortable she felt around him. No wonder she had a crush on the handsome boy sitting next to her. Now she had to make sure she didn’t make her feelings obvious and figure out a way to get over it.

“So, how was your week?” Beth broke the silence, taking a sip of her steaming coffee. Rick’s mug was still on the table. “It feels like we hardly spoke to each other.”

Rick felt the guilt bubbling up inside him. He’s been busy with ISA stuff, meetings and missions. He didn’t mean to ditch Beth or make her feel like he didn’t want her in his life, because he did. “I’m sorry, that’s on me, I-”

“No,” Beth quickly reassured him. “It’s not your fault, sometimes things just happen.”

Rick rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, yeah, I guess, but still- I’m the one who cancelled on you on Thursday.”

Beth waved him off. “Honestly, something came up for me too, if you didn’t cancel, I would’ve.”

Rick didn’t know that. He felt a bit better, though. “At least we’re here now,” he said hopefully.

Beth grinned. “Did you just say something optimistic?”

“No,” Rick denied.

“You did!” Beth exclaimed gleefully.

“No, no, that coffee must be getting to you,” Rick insisted. At Beth’s eyebrow raise, he sighed. “Fine, maybe I said something slightly optimistic. Don’t tell anyone, I need my reputation intact.”

“Oh come on, who would I tell?” Beth asked. It’s not like she had a lot of friends.

“Yolanda, Courtney, Joey, Issac, Cameron, Artemis…” Rick listed, knowing that Beth was friends with all of them. She seemed closer to Yolanda and Courtney, but she still got along well with the others. Of course Beth would have friends from the most unexpected cliques, Rick wasn’t surprised,

“Okay, you make a good point. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” Beth said teasingly with a smile before sipping her coffee.

Rick’s heart swelled unexpectedly when Beth said that. He knew Beth could keep a secret, maybe he could tell her that he was in the ISA? Rick shook that thought out of his head. No, he can’t tell her, he could never tell her. She would be repulsed by him, and Rick couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. It would be better if he kept her in the dark. Rick would never forgive himself if he did something to taint Beth’s brightness.

Pushing his deep thoughts away, Rick smirked. “Good to know my reputation will survive another day.”

Beth hid her giggle behind her mug. “So, I didn’t know you were taking chemistry,” she gestured to Rick’s notes, filled with chemical compounds and equations.

“Oh, I’m not, it’s just a personal interest,” Rick responded. “My dad… was a chemist. And I guess I wanted to see what was so appealing about it.” Beth was the only person, besides the ISA, who knew that Matt was his uncle. He came up with a false story as to why his last name changed to Harris, but Rick wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted her to at least know that he didn’t actually share the last name as Matt.

Beth’s eyes softened. “And?”

“And I actually really like it,” Rick admitted. Beth placed her mug on the table so she could softly place her hand on Rick’s. She gave it a slight squeeze.

Rick’s heart fluttered at the contact. Trying to change the subject, he said “Who knew all it took for you to put that coffee down was me being emotional?”

Beth gave him a small smile. “I think it’s really sweet, Rick. And it’s okay to be emotional, I wouldn’t judge you.”

“I know,” Rick said, but his darker thoughts nagged him. If Beth knew that he was in the ISA, she would do a lot more than judge- she would probably leave him. Rick couldn’t lose his best friend. 

Beth, knowing that Rick didn’t want to dwell on the memory of his father, took the hint that he was trying to change the subject. “And I also hope you know that my coffee is amazing and I am a bit offended that you hardly touched yours.”

“Beth, there’s still steam coming from it. The question here is how haven’t you burned off your taste buds yet,” Rick noted, chuckling while Beth took a long sip of her coffee for emphasis.

“You just have to get used to it,” Beth insisted.

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” Beth’s addiction to coffee surprised Rick at first, but now he thought it was endearing. He thought everything about her was endearing, if he was being honest. Damn it, he was supposed to get over his crush, not make it more intense! But seeing Beth’s smile and her bright eyes made him wonder if he even  _ wanted _ to get over her. 

“Sure it is!” Beth said cheerfully. “So, math, next?”

Beth and Rick spent the next couple of hours studying and chatting. Beth, who didn’t have the chance to cook during the past few days, decided to order a pizza. Rick decided it was time to end the studying session when Beth started drifting off on her side of the couch. He thought she looked cute when she was sleepy, but he wouldn’t admit that out loud.

“See you tomorrow!” Beth waved as Rick walked down the stairs of her porch and got into his yellow Mustang. She watched as he drove away. 

After Rick left, Beth threw herself down on the couch with a sigh. Her crush wasn’t going away that easily. But hey, at least she got a chance to hang out with her best friend for what seemed to be the first time this week. Hopefully there won’t be any more ISA plans they need to stop any time soon.


End file.
